I wanted to punch that dude in the face for the whole NCAA tourney. Great shot blocker though.

Now just have to see what happens with Lamarcus Aldridge this summer.

I loved Withey, dude brings it every play, you'll never see him slack off, what he lacks in athleticism he makes up for heart and hustle. Aside from Oladipo, and Porter, Withey was my favorite prospect.

He has a punchable face, nothing says Portland better than a punchable face.

There was rumors last night the Thunder wanted Victor Oladipo, and were trying to move to #2 for him, I would've been highly pissed as they seem to always take players I wanted, specially dating back to the 2008 draft, bastards.

Portland came out of this draft looking pretty damn good, now we wait for free agency I do not watch college ball much but I did catch a couple of Kansas games and watched Withey during the tourney and was thinking this dude plays hard!

I asked a buddy his thoughts about Portland drafting McCollum and his response was think Thomas and Dumars.......

Bill's basketball opinions are SOLID. Dude's not a hack, he knows his shit. He can hang with anyone. Homeboy can breakdown the Bucks 12th man.

Everybody's gotta love Simmons, man. As you said, his basketball IQ is about as high as a fan can get. TNT better watch out. The ABC studio show is gaining on them. Hiring Shaq to sit there and say retarded things was the worst thing they ever did. Ugh.

To your question about him doing SNF or MNF - I don't know about you but I don't really dig his insights into football at all.

His baseball knowledge is probably in between. Not that I would really know, I guess. But I miss his Jack-O pods re: Yankees / Redsox. Gotta bring those back.

Dumars and Thomas? I'm thinking the Trailblazers just turned into a poormans/north version of the Warriors. It should be HELLA fun having two shooters AND scorers in the same backcourt. Most players now can only score or shoot, but not both.

Curry and Thompson wouldn't be a big thing in the 80's...thats just what guards do. Hell, shooting guards cant really shoot anymore. The should just be called "other guard" from now on...unless its McCollum, Thompson, Ginobli (jk).

Blazers tonight traded 2 euro's and 2 second round draft picks to Houston for Thomas Robinson. I loved that dude in the draft last year, but he's already on his 3rd team after being the 5th overall selection. High upside and we got him for nothing. I kind of like it, good backup for Aldridge.

Throwdown wrote:I like that, he's got a bum rap for the reasons why he's on his 3rd team, kings situation and the Rockets are going all in on Howard.

Agree'd. Rumor is that it might be the precursor to a larger trade in which the Blazers would get Omar Asik if the Rockets do land Howard. That would be big for the Blazers as they desperately need a center.

Throwdown wrote:I like that, he's got a bum rap for the reasons why he's on his 3rd team, kings situation and the Rockets are going all in on Howard.

Agree'd. Rumor is that it might be the precursor to a larger trade in which the Blazers would get Omar Asik if the Rockets do land Howard. That would be big for the Blazers as they desperately need a center.

I don't rate Asik. He had a decent season last year with the Rockets, but he's not that great overall.

Throwdown wrote:I like that, he's got a bum rap for the reasons why he's on his 3rd team, kings situation and the Rockets are going all in on Howard.

Agree'd. Rumor is that it might be the precursor to a larger trade in which the Blazers would get Omar Asik if the Rockets do land Howard. That would be big for the Blazers as they desperately need a center.

I just don't understand the NBA, sometimes. Why in the hell would Houston pursue Howard when they already have Asik, who will cost millions less.

Confession - I HATE Dwight Howard. IMO, he's got to be the worst "superstar" in the whole league. I don't even remember now how many years he's been in the league but it's pushing 10 and he still has the ugliest post game I've ever seen. I swear to god, SHAQ looked better in the post than Howard, and I wonder sometimes if Shaq even understood the game. Howard can rebound and defend like crazy - no doubt. But so can Asik, so I'm just not sure what they get out of it.

Plus, and I think this is something Simmons has mentioned that I tend to agree with. Is there a less marketable "star" in the NBA right now? What excites you about going to see Howard?

I just don't see it.

All that to say, JHawks, if somehow the Blazers can pull that one off I'll be impressed. They'll have sped up what looked like a LOONG rebuild into potentially being 2-3 years away from contending in the West, especially with SA falling off.

Now if someone would just teach Lillard how to defend...oh wait! I heard GP is going to tutor him. Awesome ;-)

Throwdown wrote:I like that, he's got a bum rap for the reasons why he's on his 3rd team, kings situation and the Rockets are going all in on Howard.

Agree'd. Rumor is that it might be the precursor to a larger trade in which the Blazers would get Omar Asik if the Rockets do land Howard. That would be big for the Blazers as they desperately need a center.

I don't rate Asik. He had a decent season last year with the Rockets, but he's not that great overall.

That's funny - I LOVE Asik's game. Never going to be a star, but fills 2 boxes, rebounding and defense really well, IMO.